The live premiere of "Shades of Gray" (which still went by its working title back then) is still up on Youtube. Those who are after variety in harsh vocals may want to pay attention to the second verse, though the bass drum drowns them a bit.

Yeah, that song really does sound otherworldy good. Joutsen's vocal capabilities always blow me away; during that first verse, especially, he sounds like a fucking Karelian war god unleashed upon the mortal world. When I saw them live in 2010 I was so surprised to see that he stands about five foot nothing tall. Yeah, I also recall hearing an interview from him recently in which he said he had experimented with some different vocal techniques which he'd never done before.

Last edited by Razakel on Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The live premiere of "Shades of Gray" (which still went by its working title back then) is still up on Youtube. Those who are after variety in harsh vocals may want to pay attention to the second verse, though the bass drum drowns them a bit.

I should know the answer to this question, but on Elegy did Koivusaari do all the growling vocals and Koskinen do all the clean ones, or did the former do some clean vox and the latter some growling, etc?

Koivusaari did all the harsh vocals on Elegy while Koskinen did the cleans. On Tuonela, however, Koskinen took over all vocals, as Koivusaari wanted to focus on only guitar.

I haven't listened to Elegy in ages, but I'm quite sure Better Unborn had Koskinen doing the growling.

Nope, it's Koivusaari who does the growled first verse. He performed trade-off vocals with Pasi live until 1997. Here's an old clip of Better Unborn live (comes on after Cares): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKwqFYZ5M1o

Koivusaari didn't perform vocals again until he guested on Moonsorrow's monolithic Tulimyrsky EP in 2008.

Our producer Peter Tägtgren has brought lot of old school ideology back to band. I guess that we have needed sort of encouragement to go for slightly more extreme sound world. It is more low bass-ed, guitar-oriented and there’s shit load of varieties on Tomi’s vocals.

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I can say that we are highly influenced on what we did and during recording process we did compare to the old albums like Elegy or Tales… I know that Peter is trying to get some of that old shit on the album, so let’s see how he succeeds with this.

He seems to hesitate in advertising the new album as a 'back-to-the-roots' endeavor, but the fact they're looking to Tales... and Elegy for inspiration really excites me. The live video of the new song really does sound to me like a modern interpretation of the Elegy sound, and I'm really interested to find out if that's representative of the whole album. I also liked this bit:

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We had pretty clear structure on most of the songs, but some of the intro parts we came up with [were after] getting stoned and jamming.

I prefer Joutsen era over Koskinen. Joutsen is a stupendous vocalist, the way he does the variations I'd rate him above most other vocalists of similar style. The artwork of the album is very intriguing. If the album turns out anything like their first outing with Joutsen which is 'Eclipse' I'd be highly satisfied.

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gomorro wrote:

Infact I use to have a relly hot friend from there but unfurtunetly the last party we have I was really wasted and grab her ass and it cause a huge problem. Her dad (that is a marine) wants to ripp my nuts... thinks are not the same...

The first single, Hopeless Days, was supposedly played on a Finnish radio station this morning. I wasn't able to listen to it, but it's officially released tomorrow so I'm excited about that. According to comments on their last.fm page, it's heavier than your average Amorphis single, but doesn't feature growls. I don't know of anyone who recorded it, so I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to listen.

It does sound a little bit heavier, but bear in mind it's the single. "You I Need" was the single off The Beginning of Times and was quite different from the rest of the album. Anyway, I think it sounds good.

The new single is pretty damn good. Definitely a bit of change in direction from their last four releases. Almost seems like it has a Judgement-era Anathema vibe to it, the verses at least... Maybe it's just me. Nonetheless, cannot wait for the rest of this album.

After several listens I'm really digging this. It definitely doesn't sound like a typical Amorphis single, and I'm really liking the thick guitar sound. Really makes me want to hear a heavier track off the album; I hope they release another one soon. By the way, I just love the solo at 3:52, it's such an Amorphis moment. Favourite part of the song.

Ugh, I am not liking that new song...Tomi's vocals sound thin and almost whiny. The instrumentation is great, but the song is so vocal-centric it's hard to ignore. On the other hand, that live song is awesome.

EDIT: Never mind, Hopeless Days is growing on me already. Still, I'm not liking how his voice trails off on the last word of almost every line in the verse.

_________________"There's too many people on this earth. We need a new plague."

heard this new track a few hours ago, still had the chorus in my head a bit afterwards. joutsen-amorphis is good in that it's solid, but their lack of anything new is starting to kinda bore me. say what you will about tuonela and am universum, but at least they were experimenting. this will sound ridiculous, but i kinda wish they'd stop re-writing tales from the thousand lakes now. haha.

Haha, exactly what I thought. Sometimes the misconceptions this band causes to people are pretty damn funny.

Not the typical radio single since this song is a grower, really liking it now after a few listens. I agree the vocal performance isn't the best he's done, but it's OK (not as produced vox as on earlier work with Hietala).

After a few spins, I actually really like the single. In a way, it is way heavier riff-wise than what I expected (compared with Silver Bride and You I Need - the previous singles - for instance), but also, in a way, it is really catchy and emotional. The guitars sound thicker than on the few previous albums, but the synth also really shines through and brings the atmosphere to a new level and I can actually second whoever mentioned the Judgement-era Anathema vibes, in a way. Even though the verses don't feature the best Joutsen-performance, the chorus is a winner IMO, along with the solo and the leads a bit before and after the 5 minute mark which really sound Amorphis-like, as it were.

All in all, I think it is a really well constructed song, balancing between nice atmospheric and emotional soundscapes (the verses), catchiness (the choruses) as well as heaviness (the riffage and the tone), sounding fresh but still Amorphis-like.

They might bounce back with this album (been bored of them the past two albums for the most part), but I guess we'll need to hear the full album. I'm looking forward to the growl-heavy songs and/or faster songs or songs with more focus on crushing rhytms, as even this song has a really solid guitar sound, so it might work out really well.

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Goatfangs wrote:

I named a praying mantis "Dio" after Dio, because he is awesome (the mantis is cool too). I even brought Dio the mantis to a metal show... so I can honestly say I was at a metal show with Dio.

Yeah, there's a cute, heavy riff. And I agree the guitar tone and keys are well placed in the mix.

But I find that song quite fucking boring, even after several spins. This is one of the albums I am most looking forward to this year so I am greatly disappointed, but since metal bands are notoriously clueless when it comes to choosing singles, I'm gonna hope the rest of the album is a lot better than this.

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mjollnir wrote:

Noble Beast's debut album is way beyond MOST of what Priest did in the 80s.

Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:16 pmPosts: 7744Location: The Land Down Under (no, not THAT one)

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:48 am

IX Leviathan wrote:

The new single is pretty damn good. Definitely a bit of change in direction from their last four releases. Almost seems like it has a Judgement-era Anathema vibe to it, the verses at least... Maybe it's just me. Nonetheless, cannot wait for the rest of this album.

Wow, I wasn't expecting gigantic opening riff. Really took me by surprise, and the synths also started out as really fucking bombastic. Nice first impression. I agree that Joutsen's vocals could be better here though, even if the chorus is quite good. Still, I think the album will have better stuff than this.

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Napero wrote:

(...) Bolt Thrower is to the soul what coffee is to the earthly shell.

This sounds like it could be way better than their last album. The Beginning of Time was kind of limp-wristed, and this sounds a lot better than most of the album. Especially good considering it's a single. Some growls would have really helped, though.

That was a great song. Admittedly 3:25 and on is what makes this song. Of course, everything before was integral to building it up, but this still leaves me with high expectations for the rest of the album.

Holy shit man, thanks so much! I actually googled around looking for that a while ago and was confused when nothing came up. Damn, that bronze belt buckle of the old Amorphis logo is also glorious. I bet they'd cost an arm and a leg, though, since the guy seems to makes them from scratch.

The first sample is Shades of Gray and sounds like all kinds of awesome. Whoa, Joutsen sounds beastly in that one. The second sample towards the end is from Nightbird's Song which sounds really surprising and unlike anything I've heard from Amorphis in the past. Really, really excited about this!

Holy shit man, thanks so much! I actually googled around looking for that a while ago and was confused when nothing came up. Damn, that bronze belt buckle of the old Amorphis logo is also glorious. I bet they'd cost an arm and a leg, though, since the guy seems to makes them from scratch.

Yeah, for sure. Not that I'm one to know really, but his other works, in his gallery, look fantastically well made and designed. Whatever he charges is likely well deserved, doubly for the unique items. If I had the money and interest I'd probably look into getting something actually.

Ok, finally... Shades of Gray has been released and it's exactly what everyone wants to hear. Seriously, this is one of the best Amorphis songs they've ever done. When your fanboyism has reached my caliber, it's truly impossible to pick a single favourite song, but at this very second I can without hesitation call this the best song of the Joutsen era. It's also his best vocal performance, which is an enormous statement in its own right.

"Shades of Grey" rules. I'm a huge Amorphis fan and it surprised me. Loving how it flows and its memorability.

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gomorro wrote:

Yesterday was the birthday of school pal and I met the chick of my sigh (I've talked about here before, the she-wolf I use to be inlove with)... Maaan she was using a mini-skirt too damn insane... Dude you could saw her entire soul every time she sit...

Haven't followed this band in ages. Actually Elegy is latest I got from them. It's a very catchy album, but still something is missing from it. Maybe 'soul' or something similar. Never been able to fully appreciate it. Now this new song got me really excited. I have to check those Joutsen -era albums. The little I've heard has been quite good stuff.

_________________I live in metallic furyIt seems I'm in controlFor my fingers bring the thunderTo this storm called rock and roll!!!